Bonds
by Blossumus
Summary: Amber Grimes. Ex military. Her mission, to find and protect her brother at all costs. The problem... Daryl Dixion.
1. Chapter 1

**Bonds**

**Chapter 1**

The roar of Amber Grimes' motorcycle echoed through the air as it went across the highway, heading towards the city. She had gone to the hospital where Rick was meant to have been, but it had been empty. For someone who was suppose to be a comma he was doing well being up and about. She had gone to his family home but everything had been cleared out. Shooting a few walkers Amber was found by Morgan Jones. He had said her brother was in fact alive.

After hearing he had been shot and was in a coma she had tried to get to him, especially with the virus taking hold and breaking out. She hadn't seen Rick, Lori or Carl for 10 years. There was the occasional phone call on birthdays and at Christmas, but even then it had been brief. Being in the military meant she had to keep them at a distance, considering what she had seen and been involved in. She shook her head, thinking about the past would only distract her. There was only one thing that mattered now and that was to find Rick, Lori and Carl.

Why Rick thought going to the city would be a good idea she would never know. She almost thought Morgan was making it all up after hearing Rick went off on a horse like some kind of cowboy. But then again, Rick had always been able to surprise her. Getting nearer to the city, thoughts raced through Amber's head. Where the hell was she going to find Rick in a city full of walkers? She doubted Lori and Carl would be there so why head there?

The city streets had a few walkers here and there but she had expected more. There were signs of the military everywhere. Turning the corner she saw a military tank with body after body scattering across the street. What caught her eye though was the mostly eaten corpse lying on the ground just a few feet away from the tank. It was a horse or what was left of one. Her heart sunk. No! She refused to believe Rick was stupid enough to get killed here. Glancing round she saw there were more walker bodies piled on top of each other as though they were trying to get under the tank.

Quickly Amber got off her motorcycle and readied her gun. Checking it was safe – or as safe as it could be these days – she knelt down and peered under the tank. There were more bodies but none that belonged to her brother. Getting up she climbed on to the tank to get to the hatch. Being alert of her surroundings she made sure it was clear before opening the hatch. There was a body in there. Bullet wound to the head, she was sure her brother had been there.

Jumping down from the tank Amber sighed as she got on her motorcycle. She couldn't find Rick in the city. It was too big and too dangerous. The last message she'd received off Lori was about if the virus spread any further then she would head awat from the city. Finding Lori and Carl might help her find her brother. Starting the engine, the many groans of walkers ringed through her ears. Ahead of her was a large number of walkers becoming aware of her existence.

"Time to go" Amber took off down the highway. It would be her only hope and she prayed it was the right thing to do.

It was getting dark and fast. Amber swallowed as she saw a clearing to the right of her. It wasn't safe to stay out in the open, especially at night. Titling the bike to go down the path she hoped there was a stream near by so that she could get a drink, her water canister had been empty for hours now. She slowed as she caught a glimpse of an orange glow coming from downhill. Turning off the engine and making her way by foot, Amber took cover behind one of the many trees.

Muffled laughter... human laughter, filled her ears. It had been a long time since she heard anyone laugh. She readied her pistol and tried to get closer. There seemed to be a small camp fire going, small enough so it couldn't be detected from the highway. There was a dozen people there, sharing jokes and stories. Screaming ripped through the cheerful atmosphere as Amber steadied herself closer to the tree.

"Walkers" she breathed. She couldn't believe it. Within seconds of finding life its being attacked in the next instance. Debating whether she should enter the now walker infested camp, the screams sent shivers down her spine. "It's happening all over again". Amber seized her head. Memories spun through her mind like an endless horror story. The pain shot down her spine into her legs and back into her head.

"CARL! NO! CARL!" Amber's eyes lifted and she set her sights on her targets to kill. Like instinct her body drew her forward and she started shooting bullets into all walkers in her way. There was no mistake that that was Lori's voice. Her body moved faster, each action precise and brutal. When Amber finally located Carl he was running from three walkers. Amber sprinted after him and was shooting anything that got in her way.

Grabbing her shot gun from her back, she blew the head off one of the walkers. One of them whirled on the spot and snarled before lunging towards her. Perfect for her shotgun. She smirked and her eyes shone. Blood and brains splattered up her clothes. Ahead of her Carl fell to the ground. Amber sprinted forward. Sliding through the walker's legs she turned and fired her shotgun and watched as the walker flew backwards.

Rolling over she got to Carl and grabbing his arm and yanked him to his feet. Lori appeared at his side and held him tight. Glancing up her face whitened but before she could speak a word Amber started firing. "MOVE!" Lori flinched at the command and pulled Carl to follow her.

New gun shots rang out at the other end of the camp. The walkers numbers were dwindling. Amber protected Lori and Carl with everything she had. She was joined by a man with black hair as he shot down walkers to his right. He yelled to Lori and Carl where to start moving too. Amber hesitated before turning to him. "Protect them with your life I'll cover you!" With a nod he followed them. Amber wanted to be in his place but she had more faith in stopping other walkers getting closer to them. She was sure that man was competent enough to stop any walker in a 5 metre radius.

The screams, snarls and gun shots blurred together and everything was chaos. Turning quickly Amber raised her shotgun to shoot again but stopped, her finger resting against the trigger. She found a cross bow pointing at her skull and a man breathing heavily behind it. Everything slowed. The snarls and screams disappearing into the background. They both stared into each others eyes. Deadly predators face to face. Any movement would make them attack.

"LORI! CARL! WHERE ARE YOU?" _That voice... that's... _Amber snapped out of her trance and slowly lowered her gun as the man in front of her did the same. Amber turned her head slightly, not taking her eyes off him for too long. She saw Rick run up to Lori and Carl, hugging them tightly like he'd lose them if he let go. Amber only looked at them emptily. She'd finally found them all but for some reason she felt nothing. Casting her eyes down she blamed the adrenaline for overwhelming her. Turning she began to walk away quickly. She had to get away. She didn't want them to see her like this.

"Wait! Wait right there!" She froze. A cold hand gripped her wrist. She turned her head to see Rick's face staring into hers. He pulled her into him and held on. Amber's breath left her as tears ran down her cheeks. Rick kissed her forehead "Stay with me... please, little sister".


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Daryl looked at Rick holding onto the blonde. She was fearsome but there was something mysterious about her. Rick had said little sister. Daryl could see the resemblance. She had ocean blue eyes that seemed like they were looking into your soul. He could still feel the goose bumps over his skin from their little stand off. He shook his head as he didn't want to think about silly things like that. He walked away to make sure they wouldn't get any more little surprises.

Rick pulled away and smiled down at her. "Thank you. You saved them." Amber cast her eyes down and stared at the floor. She felt uncomfortable. What was she to say? Before she had a chance to answer her brother though, the wailing of a women near an RV tore through the air. Rick went back to Lori and Carl as Amber watched her. She was clinging onto a young girls body. Amber cast her eyes down and wandered through the camp and made her way back to her bike. She felt sorry for them but didn't want to stick around while they mourned.

Climbing through the trees she retraced her steps back to her pride and joy. Still standing where she'd left it, her bike was a reassurance to her. It was familiar and would get her anywhere she needed to be. Rummaging through the seat compartment there was still enough ammo before she would have to go 'shopping' for some more.

Shane moved through the trees like a hunter stalking it's prey. That blonde had appeared out of no where and was deadly. He'd never seen someone move like she had. He saw her standing beside her bike. He slowly crept up behind her back. She was tall and curvy but there was something powerful about the way she stood. Like nothing would make her move or show her weaknesses.

Shane moved forward, placing each step carefully. "Can I help you?" Shane blinked at the woman. Her voice was cold and there was something deadly behind it.

"Just wondered where you got to that's all" he swallowed and felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. She gracefully turned around and leaned against her bike. Tilting her head she smirked at him.

"Is that right? Well you've found me. Name's Amber" Shane stood straight and but didn't return her smirk. Footsteps drew their attention. Rick smiled at them both and went to his sisters side.

"Lets go back, the others need us." They all made their way back into the body filled camp. Amber glanced over towards the red neck as he sent a pick axe into the dead's brains. Looking towards the Asian boy she decided to help out.

Morning came and went. Amber noticed Rick had gone off and was on a walkie talkie. The one called Andrea had stayed with her sister. A few had gone up to her and tried to convince her to let them take the girl. But she had replied with her gun pointing to their skulls.

Eventually everyone was gathered round talking about the next course of action to be taken with an infected man and where the group should head next. Amber wandered over to listen in. All exchanged looks towards her before Rick spoke up.

"This is Amber Grimes. She's my little sister." Amber nodded to them all.

Shane moved uncomfortably "What I wan' to know, is why you suddenly appeared when we got attacked!"

"Be thankful I did or there would've been a lot more dead bodies. I've been travelling to Atlanta for a while. With the outbreak occurring I had to get to Rick. Last I heard, he was in a coma in hospital. Well after that no show, I've been to his house and the city. Its only by chance I stopped off to look for more water. I heard your laughter then I heard the screams" Carol winced at the memory of Amy's screams.

Dale cleared his throat, "I saw the way the fought last night... you military?" The air grew thick and Shane went white. Amber too grew uncomfortable.

"No that was a long time ago. But don't start thinking I know everything about what the military is doing about this mess. As far as I'm concerned, we're on our own. Another thing, instead of asking me all these questions, I think all of you should be more concerned about what you're going to do about him" Amber pointed to Jim sat against the RV and everyone exchanged grimaces.

"I say we put a pick axe in his head and the girl's and be done with it" The one they called Daryl was clearly a survivor. Amber admired and understood that. If there was someone who could survive this, it would be someone like Daryl. She looked more closely to his features. He was quiet handsome for a red neck. Muscled body, stubble with mousey brown hair. Looking into his eyes he was looking right back at her. She felt her stomach tighten and looked away.

Rick started saying about getting help from the CDC. That was were she was suppose to be stationed before she quit the military. These people had no idea that the people they wanted to find, the military, would be worse than finding yourself in the middle of walkerville. It seemed like they would make a decision sooner or later. All Amber cared about was where Rick was heading. Where he goes, she goes. Amber headed back to her motorcycle and got ready for the upcoming journey.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

With everything ready to go Amber walked over to where everyone was burying the dead. Stepping at the side of Daryl she watched as Andrea pulled her sister into a grave. She'd never been to a funeral before, even with all the death in her past. Glancing over to Rick and Lori she saw them supporting each other. They were a unit and nothing would separate them.

Everyone stood quietly as the rest were buried. Images started to flash through her mind. Decaying flesh, bodies piled on one another. A girl screaming and scrambling through darkness. Amber's chest tightened as her whole body went cold. She wanted to save that girl, to pull her from the dark, evil place.

Daryl looked to Amber. She was staring at the graves like she didn't understand what they were doing. She was holding her hands and shaking. Grabbing his red piece of cloth out of his back pocket he handed it to her. She blinked at it for a few seconds. She didn't seem to understand. Daryl lifted it and gently moved it across her check. Amber was surprised to see it come away wet. She was crying. She hadn't cried in years.

Daryl watched as her shaking hands took the cloth and wiped her face. He saw the soft pinkness appear in her cheeks. He guessed she left too uncomfortable when she turned and walked away. Everyone followed soon after. He made his way to the back of the camp near where he'd left his truck. He heard a soft sound coming from the other side and slowly made his way round. He saw Amber sat leading against the passenger door.

His footsteps caught her attention and she turned her head to him. Her bottom lip quivered as she stared wide eyed. Tears streaked down her face. She was holding onto her body, clinging onto it. Daryl edged nearer to the woman. She stared into the ground as he knelt next to her.

No words were spoken at first. For some reason Amber found his closeness comforting to her. She shut her eyes. What was wrong with her? She was showing weakness. Rage swirled inside of her. A light touch to her arm froze her. Daryl was touching her. He was pitying her. Amber lashed out at him. Shoving his hand away and getting up before storming off towards her bike. Daryl stared on as she went off but he turned away. "Stupid bitch".

Everyone got into their vehicles and started to head off down the path towards the highway. Amber wiped her face and was one of the last to leave. Her bike started forward and she slowly overtook Shane and Daryl's truck. She pulled along the side of Rick's car and pulled a face to Carl. He laughed aloud and even Lori joined in. Rick smiled as Amber increased her speed towards Dale's RV.

"Glenn!" Amber laughed as Glenn nearly jumped out of his seat. He'd been staring out into the distance. So much so that he hadn't noticed her approach. He smiled and waved to her. Amber laughed again and increased her speed to create distance between her and the rest of the group.

* * *

They had travelled a fair bit before Amber noticed smoke coming from the front of Dale's RV. Causing her bike to skid she went back. The radiator had gone by the sounds of the guys talking. Carl walked over to her as she was leaning against her bike. She smiled to him warmly. "Hey kiddo, you doing okay?"

This seemed to relax him slightly. He barely remembered his aunt but he remembered his dad talking fondly about her. "I'm good thanks. So... erm, how come you never visited us much?" Amber's eyebrows rose. She hadn't expected a question like that from the boy, or for him to be that blunt about it.

She sighed and gave him an apologetic look. "I was always working away... You see my job meant I couldn't be around you. I had to make sure bad people didn't cause problems and hurt everyone. If I was always around you guys then those bad people might have tried to hurt you. I couldn't and wouldn't allow that to happen. I never forgot about you Carl. I tried to send messages when I had the chance. Things just worked out differently I guess. I'm sorry I've been away for so long."

Carl listened to every word his aunt said. She spoke with authority and there was power behind everything she said. She wouldn't allow anything to hurt him or his mum and dad. Remembering the night before sent chills down his spine. She'd come to his rescue and saved his life. Carl looked up into her eyes. Her smile was warm but her eyes... they were cold. He had a sick feeling run through his body. She scared him. It was like what she said and showed was completely different from how she was feeling. Even though he'd seen that coldness, when he looked again it had vanished and she was grinning at him.

"You okay?" He blinked and laughed as he nodded his head. To his relief Lori called him over. Saying his goodbye he ran to his mum. Shane and Rick had taken Jim under a tree up hill. Looks like he was turning quicker than expected. Amber made her way up with everyone else. Daryl appeared at her side in an instance. She glared at him for a second before increasing her pace so she was a few feet in front. Daryl just grunted at her as she did.

After everyone had said their goodbyes to Jim and started to walk back, Amber knelt down in front of him. He saw there was no sadness in her body language or features. She glanced to the ground before looking off to the side. "You should have taken that gun off my brother. I've seen people turn – or die I should say." She looked into his eyes then. "I'm sorry Jim I wish there was something that could be done. Are you sure this is what you want?"

He smiled. "I want to be with my family and you'll need the bullets more than me" Amber seemed to accept this and held his shoulder. She kissed his cheek and walked away.

The open highway was all the group had as all their thoughts were on Jim sitting peacefully under that tree. Amber's – on the other hand – were focusing on the CDC. Before she quit, her next mission was to the CDC. She had specific orders about the scientists. Make them work to find a cure and exterminate any that tried to run or give up. It will be interesting to see if anything is left. Thankfully the group had decided to go. They could distract whoever was left - or if anyone was left – as she hacked into the computer system. She needed to know what they'd found.

If the military was there things could become... complicated. She'd have to be extra careful. She might even have to tell the others the truth but she doubted it would have to come to that. She'd just take her chances.


End file.
